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Apple Starts Shipping 27 inch Monitor

By Tracey E. Schelmetic

TMCnet Contributor

It's big, it's beautiful, it's cool and it's energy-efficient. It's also expensive, which means many people are sure to want one.

What is it? It's Apple's (News - Alert) new 27-inch Cinema Display LCD monitor, first announced about a month ago in July, is finally on sale at the company's online store. It's an IPS-based glossy monitor with impressive resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. It also features LED backlighting, 1000:1 contrast ratio and a 178 degree viewing angle for maximum tilt in adjustability. It comes with a built-in iSight camera, 49-watt speakers and three USB ports that allow USB 2.0 connectivity. The screen is designed to complement Apple PCs such as the Mac Pro, Mac mini and iMac. The display has a Mag Safe connector, so it can be used for charging a notebook computer.

The "cinema" display screen comes with an inbuilt light sensor that can adjust the screen brightness according to ambient lighting in the room. The feature not only makes for great viewing, it also conserves energy.

Apple is still selling its 24-inch and 30-inch displays, but will not manufacture more of them once stocks disappear. This unit will replace both of them. Shipping time for the 27-inch display is one to two weeks, and the price is $999.

The thousand dollar price tag (News - Alert) has raised some eyebrows, particularly as HD televisions of the same size can be purchased for a lot less. It's important to remember, however, that the kind of resolution the Apple display is offering (2560 x 1440) far exceeds anything on the market in HD television screens. In addition, the smaller, 24 inch display that is now discontinued, retailed for more: about $1,099. The 30-inch display retailed at about $2,499.

Tracey Schelmetic is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Tracey's articles, please visit her columnist page.